Griffin got the scoring underway 40 seconds into the game off a corner kick from senior midfielder Kelly McMahon. McMahon fired a ball into the box that Griffin headed into the back of the net.

McMahon started a successful set piece just 26 minutes later to give the Griffs a 2-0 lead. On their fifth corner kick of the game, McMahon sent one to the near post that was headed by sophomore forward Brittany Krause past a pair of Peacocks’ defenders and into the net.

Krause netted another goal in the 70th minute. Senior forward Brianna Smith played a ball up the left side of the field to Krause, who found the back of the net from 18 yards out.

Griffin then scored her second goal in the 81st minute to give Canisius a 4-0 lead. Krause sent the ball deep into the left side of the box and Griffin managed to find the back of the net for the second time. Krause’s five points on the day is good for a single game career-high.

Despite the four-goal difference, the Peacocks managed to tighten things up late by scoring three goals in 6:15 to cut the final deficit to one. Greta Vogel got Saint Peter’s on the board in the 83rd minute, when she took a shot from 20-yards out and beat Griffs’ senior goalkeeper Megan Tock top-shelf. Kaitlyn Lima recorded the assist on the play.

Vogel from Lima would strike again 1:22 later, this time Lima sent a cross into the far post and Vogel managed to get her head on it and beat Tock to the right.

The Peacocks pulled within one when Shannon Nutley managed to score after a sustained scrum in front of the net. Tock knocked the ball away from the net twice, but the Griffs couldn’t get the ball out from the front of the net and Nutley managed to capitalize making the game’s final score 4-3 in the final minute.

With the win, the Griffs moved to 3-7-0 in MAAC play.

Canisius received some help from Siena as well. With the Saints victory over Manhattan, the Griffs locked up the 9-seed for the MAAC Championship. Pending this afternoon’s results, the Griffs will square off with either Niagara or Quinnipiac on Thursday during the tournament’s first round in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. That game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The four goals is the most Canisius has scored since Sept. 16, 2011, when they scored four against St. Bonaventure. The Griffs haven’t scored more than four goals since a 6-0 win over Saint Peter’s on Oct. 31, 2010… Canisius has now won 15 straight contests against Saint Peter’s dating back to the 1998 season… Krause’s five points are the most points in a single game since Brianna Smith’s six points against Oct. 12, 2012 against Saint Peter’s.